Aiko Inuzuka
by Professional LimeWedge
Summary: Aiko is a member of the Inuzuka clan, proud, strong and revered for their ability to dig up secrets that would be best left alone.  OC x Naruto, Mystery/Romance/Adventure
1. Chapter 1

**Okay! Hello – I'm taking a temporary hiatus from my other story until I finish this one: few reasons, I already have a story line for this one to follow and it is comfortably finished, and my other story is.. well, not good x) **

Ω

_He's still there… doesn't that swing ever get boring? Why doesn't he play on something else? He's not even swinging… _A small brunette studied a younger blonde sitting on a park swing, his bangs covering his eyes, a small dog's bark by the girls side brought her from her observation,

"Neh, Chicho, you want to swing too?" that earnt a second bark from the puppy, she smiled and approached the boy.

"Hey, if you're not using it can I swing?" The small blonde looked up from the ground, briefly making eye contact before glancing at the dog sitting by her side, nodding stiffly he stood up from the wooden swing. He returned his gaze to the floor he took a few steps away and crouched, picking up a twig he began drawing shapes into the dirt, hugging his knees. The small dog only yawned at the scene paced next to the swing, settling quickly for a nap.

"If you sit there I'm still going to hit you…" again the boy lifted his eyes from the ground, more brief eye contact before he shuffled out of the swings reach, satisfied the brunette sat on the swing and began to swing her legs beneath her washing a curious eye over the younger boy,

_Blonde hair… blue eyes… those whiskers… He's the one my mom used to warn me about? _She mentally scoffed. _He doesn't look like much of a demon_,_ though the kid was always pulling pranks… trouble maker probably brought it on himself, silly kid. _As the girl began to swing higher and higher she suddenly felt a pair of eyes staring at her, she glanced around the playground to see a pair of bright blue eyes watching her intently. She felt herself grin at the mild awe on his face… she didn't like to brag, but she was pretty good on the swings…

A few minutes passed before the girl slowed her pace and climbed off the swing, sparing a passing glance at the blonde who was still openly gawking at her… She returned the boys stare for a second before flicking her hair over her shoulder.

"What are you staring at?" the boy stumbled over his words for a few seconds when she spoke… it was almost cute how flustered he got.

"I- well- Um… C-can y-you teach… me to play…?" she raised an eyebrow

"How old are you?" the boy ducked his head in embarrassment

"Six…" she let a superior smirk wash across her face as she spoke

"Well lucky for you I learned when I was four, so I guess I can teach you a thing or two" the boy lifted his head fast enough to give a normal person whiplash, an ecstatic grin plastered proudly across his face.

"Really!"

Ω

A few minutes later the small blonde was sitting on the swing staring intently at the girl in front of him, his legs dangled beneath him barely touching the patch of dirt beneath the swing…

"Remember: swing your legs out when you're going forward, and in when you're going back" the blonde nodded with a rare look of seriousness, the girl then walked behind him and gave the swing a gentle push, a look of fear washed over the boy as his body lost balance, his hands tightened their grip on the ropes instinctively and he snapped his eyes shut…

"Remember to swing your legs kid!" The sound of the girls voice chased some of the fear away as Naruto swung his legs inward as he reached the height of the swing, falling back he felt a thrill as air rushed past his ears, then he started to fall again,

"Swing!" Following the shouting girls orders he kicked out with his legs and pushed himself through the air like he was rowing with his legs,

"I'm – I'm doing it! I'm swinging!" the boy shouted across the playground as the girl folded her arms across her chest and gave an approving smile.

"See? It's not hard" Her voice fell on deaf ears as the blonde was now laughing with exhilaration, his heart beating in his ears from the thrill, the girls eyebrow twitched when the boy didn't respond…

"Ignoring me!" still standing behind the swing she pushed as hard as she could when the boy started to swing towards her, the new force knocked him instantly off balance sending him sprawling to the floor, the instant the boy hit the floor he kicked off again, quickly heading towards the entrance of the park, dodging past a few parents who yelled as he passed… the girl glanced at the spot where he hit the ground, _Blood? _She instantly felt bad… she hadn't meant to hurt him… just meant to tease him, like she used to do to her brother. She stared off toward the entrance as the boy disappeared around a corner…

"Neh, Chicho why'd you think he ran?" the dog only barked in response,

Ω - _Four years later_ - Ω

_How could I fail the exam! I can do all three of those techniques perfectly! Damn it… Nerves must have gotten the better of me…_ the girl growled to herself as she walked through the halls of the academy,

"I guess I'd better meet my new class mates… How bad could it be?" the small dog in her hood barked in response, she felt herself smile… Chicho really would follow her anywhere…

"Hey! Settle down everyone! Naruto! Everyone includes you!" she slowed down as she passed the class room door, checking the number of the door with the note Mizuki had handed her before she left the examination room. She briefly looked around the class to see Iruka stood at the front fuming, feeling her stare the chunnin cast a glance in her direction, a smile forming instantly.

"Okay guys, today we've got a new student joining our class today! She's a few years older than you so be nice!" with that said the teacher waved the girl over, blushing slightly from the attention she stepped through the door and stood at the front of the class with her head bowed to hide her redness.

"She failed the exam then? What a loser!" the second the words left the boys mouth a eraser knocked the boy out of his seat, Chicho barked at the small dog on top of Kiba's desk, obviously recognising each other's scents from the compound.

"What did I just say Kiba! Settle down!" the boy climbed back into his seat, nursing the growing bump on his forehead. Aiko raised an eyebrow, was that Kiba… _The clan heir? No way… _she shook her head, if that was the future of the clan then they were in serious trouble.

"Now Aiko… You can sit…" the man looked around the room deciding where would be best

"At the back? You know all of this stuff anyway" she nodded to the man and made her way to the back of the room, ignoring the stares.

"Okay! With that settled…" And Iruka instantly carried on with his lesson… it was strange to be back in a first year class, everything was common sense to her now, whereas at the time everything was so complicated… she glanced at the other students faces around the room… _Are any of them having as much of a hard time as I did? _As if on cue a blonde boy jumped from his seat in front of her clutching his hair, screaming.

"Iruka-sensei! This is all too hard!" The teacher instantly fired an eraser at the blonde who fell backwards over his chair after the eraser knocked him on the forehead,

"Don't do that in the middle of class Naruto!" the blonde picked himself up with a mischievous grin and threw the eraser back at the teacher who substitutioned with a chair, easily dodging the eraser…

"W-where did Naruto go?" the teacher instantly ran over to the open window and leaned out as far as he could

"Damn it! He escaped again… Class review the Substitution Jutsu until I get back!" with that the man climbed out of the window and began to track the blonde… a few seconds passed before said blonde climbed out from under his desk grinning,

"N-naruto? Didn't you run away?" the blonde laughed at the expression Ino was giving him and quickly jumped out the window, running in the opposite direction Iruka took,

"Have fun studying, losers!"

"How did he even do that…" Aiko grinned, she'd seen it all the way through… apparently she was the only one who had

"He made Iruka-sensei perform the Substitution Jutsu, then when while the smoke caused by the technique cleared he hid under the desk… everyone's attention was on Iruka because of the Jutsu, and Iruka couldn't see because of the smoke… then Iruka assumed he'd escaped out the window and all Naruto had to do was wait until the teacher left the room to escape" Everyone stared at the girl as she explained the situation

"Well done Akio, that was very quick thinking… but you left a bit out" all heads turned to the front of the class to see Iruka holding a now tied up and wriggling Naruto over his shoulder,

"When Naruto left the class room he made one big mistake by shouting about it… that's what got him caught" Everyone nodded at the teacher sternly, a few jotting notes into their journals about the experience. As the teacher replaced the still tied up boy into his seat in front of Akio… the pair briefly made eye contact as the boy was placed into his seat… W_hat is this feeling? … Why do I recognise this kid?_

The boy growled at the teacher who'd gagged him with a piece of thick rope,

"Now Naruto, learn something from this… you can never fool you're teacher" the man patted him on the head and returned to the front of the class continuing with the lecture.

Ω

The bell began to chime around the academy, causing the students to rise from their desks and pack their note pads into their bags, Iruka only double checked his watch to make sure it wasn't another prank before sitting down at his desk wishing the class a happy weekend. As the students finished filing out of the room Iruka noticed Aiko still seated behind Naruto seemingly wide eyed and bushy tailed… the teacher narrowed his eyes and stalked toward the girl, his eye brow twitched when a quiet snore came from her… she was… sleeping… in class? And he was none the wiser? Sure enough when the teacher searched for a genjutsu he found it, cancelling it he discovered the girl leaning heavily on her desk and drooling onto her books. Naruto allowed himself a chuckle as the teacher raised a hand and slammed it onto Aiko's desk causing her to rocket from her seat. She spent a few startled seconds grasping on reality before looking up at Iruka in slight fear… the dog on her desk only looked up in mild irritation from being awoken so rudely,

"N-neh sensei… I a-already learned this stuff, s-so it's okay… right?" the man sighed and nodded, pointing towards the door.

"Have a good weekend Aiko, we'll be finishing off the transformation jutsu on Monday, so practice hard, you can help me teach it" the girl nodded slightly and stood to leave, picking up the small puppy and placing it in the hood of her coat, completely missing the longing stare on the man's face completely… _So much like Ana-chan…_ The short brown hair, onyx eyes, slim figure, the only thing that was out of place were the Inuzuka tattoos on either cheek…

The man shook the thoughts from his head and turned his attention to the blonde in front of him, pulling out a kunai he sliced the ropes. Immediately the blonde bounced from his chair and dived to for the class room door.

"Naruto, sit down now." The blonde flinched at the tone of Iruka's voice, he was rarely this angry… probably best to face the consequences than make a run for it, with a small sigh the blonde sat in the nearest seat and stared hard at his sensei, a few minutes passed where Iruka tried to find how to place his words while the blonde just stared him down.

"Neh… Naruto, do you remember what Hokage-sama said all those years ago? When we first met?" as the man spoke he sat on the nearest desk and stared out the window, casting his mind back to the changing point in both his and Naruto's lives…

Ω

_Iruka was standing in front of the Hokage with a proud smile… he'd finally been accepted as a teacher at the academy… and he was about to get his first group of students, needless to say he was excited. The old man caught wind of this and gave an encouraging smile,_

"_Iruka I see you're very much looking forward to the new academy year" the man nodded his enthusiasm_

"_Hai Hokage-sama! I want to thank you on accepting me into the staff" the Hokage nodded approval before narrowing his eyes slightly._

"_That is all well and good Iruka, but I have a request for you… I warn you it may be quite over baring…" the man didn't even flinch_

"_I accept Hokage-sama! You can count on me!" the man smiled and made a hand signal, the chuunin by the door nodded and stepped outside the room,_

"_Good! Good Iruka, I would very much like for you to watch over a certain child for me… to make sure no harm comes to him during his time at the academy… you will have to be vigilant, a lot of the other staff may be out to get him" Iruka raised an eyebrow… for the staff to actually target and penalise a student was un heard of…_

"_O-of course Hokage-sama… But if you don't mind me asking, why would the staff target a mere academy student?" the door behind Iruka opened to announce the return of the chuunin guard. The Hokage merely gestured for Iruka to look behind him… his eyes widened in shock… _So that's it… the Kyuubi kid, _the man turned once again to look at the Hokage who studied his expression very carefully… _

"_Neh… will you be my new sensei?" the man slowly nodded… what had he got himself into…_

Ω

The blonde narrowed his eyes… of course he remembered but what does that have to do with anything?

"Yeah what of it sensei?" Iruka sighed at the memory… how blind he had been, he'd been the same as everyone else… assuming Naruto was just the demon in disguise… it had taken nearly a year before Iruka was finally able to see the blonde for who he was. But Naruto knew none of this… as the teacher was seemingly just staring out the window…

"I was asked to protect you, by Hokage-sama…" The blonde rolled his eyes

"Yeah I just said I remembered, what of it?" another pause filled the room as Iruka collected his thoughts

"I can't protect you all the time, you know that… don't you?" Naruto flinched, catching on to the man's line of thought, the villagers… but why was he bringing them up at all?

"Yeah… I'm not stupid sensei" the man grinned at Naruto's attitude… obviously a defence, seems he still didn't fully trust him, not that he could blame him… he sighed and turned to face the blonde.

"But I can protect you while you're at the academy" Naruto sighed, finally seeing the man's point

"So you don't want me to run away from class again, neh?" the man nodded

"It's for your own good Naruto… remember what happened last time?" the boy flinched and looked away, this was a different approach than he was used to… Usually Iruka would scream himself stomach ulcer, but this time he seemed genuinely concerned, the blonde shook his head… so what? Concern isn't that hard to fake, he'd done it before. A few seconds passed before Naruto snorted and stood from his seat, slowly walking toward the door he paused for a second,

"Have a good weekend sensei…" Iruka sighed and ran a hand through his hair before returning to his desk to plan the transformation lesson…

Ω

"_Yeah what of it sensei?" _Aiko froze outside the room, her hand poised over the door handle… The blondes voice seemed aggressive somehow, where as their teacher seemed almost… desperate, this wasn't a situation she should interrupt… she'd have to wait until they were done. Retracting her hand from the door handle she made a move to walk a few yards away from the door when Iruka spoke.

"_I was asked to protect you by Hokage-sama"_ Akio felt her heart beat rise and her eyes widen, protection? Was the kid a target? Her mind flooded with bizarre situations which might have led a missing nin or the Diamyo's son to be at the ninja academy, none of the situations were realistic though… she sighed at her own imagination before pressing an ear against the wood of the door… This was a situation she needed to know more about, she recognised the blonde… it's as if her mind was trying to force a memory that didn't exist… she sighed and rubbed her temple to avoid the growing headache… she would have to get to the bottom of this, Inuzuka's were, after all known for digging up secrets.

"_Have a good weekend sensei…"_ the girl felt herself tense and quickly dodged into the girls bathroom as the classroom door squeaked open, a few seconds later she poked a head out of the toilets, seeing Naruto walking in the opposite direction, both hands in his pockets she allowed herself a small smile and began walking towards the class room door, a few seconds later she gave it a gentle knock.

"Come in" she slowly opened the door and peeped her head inside the room, looking for Iruka

"Oh Aiko, I figured you'd be coming by… here's your bag, try not to forget it again" the man held out her school bag, that she'd accidently left behind earlier, she nodded and walked into the room, taking the bag and slipping it over her shoulder

"Arigato sensei" she chirped… studying the man's expression there was a short silence

"Neh… sensei? Are you okay?" the man raised an eyebrow

"I'm fine Aiko, why do you ask?" she waved it off and walked towards the door… it was a silly idea to try and get information out of him… he was a chuunin after all. Not stupid.

"See you on Monday sensei!"

Ω

"W-what is this?" Aiko stared forward…. Not caring to glance around the familiar scenery, the entire world was built of black and white, all movement leaving a thin wisp behind it, but all she could do was stare, wide eyed at the scene in front of her… Suddenly she was a child again, no older than seven. The feeling of utter terror caused her knees to shake wildly beneath her, the only colours present in the greyscale world are that of blood running down the pitch white fence … an entire body above the waist is lying at her feet, the lower half still standing in pose before collapsing to the ground, blood begins to pool around both parts of the body… but she doesn't cry, she doesn't blink or breath or speak… she just stares… seconds pass like hours before familiar words sound across her mind,

"This is important Aiko, you can't forget" a flash in her memory… her father standing before her with a simple smile, one hand on her shoulder… but it doesn't feel natural, she doesn't like that look… it seems nice but there's something beneath it…

"You can't forget"

Ω

Aiko bolts upright in bed spending a few seconds grasping on her bed sheets, the voice still echoing in her mind… _You can't forget…_ she took a long shaky breath before swinging both of her legs out of the bed and planting them firmly onto the dark wood of her shack, she rubbed her temple in a vain attempt to remove the image of her father's smile from her mind, she growled and glanced at her alarm clock, almost 6 am… she didn't have to be awake for another few hours. Pulling her shirt over her head and throwing it into a pile by her front door she made her way into the bath room before stripping off the rest of her night clothes and climbing into the shower. Washing away the last of the memories from the dream. A few minutes later she heard a gentle scratch at the door to the shower and glanced through the glass.

"Go away Chicho, I'm having a shower…" as usual the dog only barked in return and sat down on the girls disguarded night clothes making himself a makeshift bed while he waited for her to finish. A few minutes later the girl climbed out of the shower and grabbed a towel off the rack, instead of wrapping it around herself she rubbed her skin dry before replacing the towel on the rack and re entering her bedroom. Opening her dresser she picked up some underwear and threw it onto the bed, followed by a simple black t shirt and a pair of dark slacks, quickly getting dressed she grabbed the standard Inuzuka jacket and pulled it on. Heading towards the door she grabbed a key out of a small bowl near the entrance and called for Chicho to follow her, of course he did and soon the pair were walking through the familiar paths of the Inuzuka compound.

"Good morning Akio, how was the exam?" the girl flinched at the question… she didn't really want people to know about her failure,

"She failed! Now she has to retake the last year again" both people present snapped their heads to face a now grinning Kiba, Akamaru barked from the top of his head, Chicho quickly returning the bark from his perch in Aiko's hood. The elderly woman who had asked the question narrowed her eyes at the obnoxious boy, reaching for a broom she gave him a not so gentle tap in the gut,

"Be nicer to your clansmen Kiba-kun" she turned back to face Aiko with a healthy smile

"As for you, don't you dare worry about the exam, the teachers obviously see something in you or they wouldn't have sent you into Kiba's class, there's a lot of clan heirs in that class from what I hear" Aiko nodded and cast her mind back to the class… from what she could tell there was a Hyuuga, Yamanaka, Akamichi, Nara, Uchiha, Aburame, and an Inuzuka, every major clan was being represented in this year group… she couldn't let the clan down… this year she needed to be number one.

"Yeah… I won't let the clan down, don't worry" the girl gave a swift bow to the woman and carried on down the path while the elderly woman continued to lecture Kiba, who was still nursing his gut.

Yeah… there were a lot of clans in this year group… was that a common occurrence? There was a Hyuuga in her old class. And he was strong, the teachers always called him a prodigy… but he was always a stick in the mud, droning on and on about fate. But despite that he was still undeniably strong… the rookie of the year no doubt. The title this year seemed to be leaning towards the last Uchiha, Sasuke was his name? she hadn't seen a lot from him but his aura radiated silent confidence, unlike the blonde who was always sitting in front of her… the loud confident kind, probably next to no skill but a lot of will power, kind of like Lee from her previous group… no skill in ninjutsu or genjutsu but made up for it with at least high level genin taijutsu, maybe even low chuunin. A short bark brought the girl from her thoughts, she glanced at the small dog who merely gestured in front of her… _Is that the blonde kid? What's he doing here up so early on a Saturday? _She glanced around to see where her walk had taken her… _A training ground? This early?_

The girl decided against interrupting the blonde and chose to sit on the grass a short distance away, leaning against one of three large wooden columns she watched the boy train out of idle curiosity… _let's see if this kid is as bad as Lee…_ she mentally laughed at the idea. A few minutes passed and she found herself cringing at the boys stances and form...

"It's as if they taught him to be bad on purpose… how can anyone be in their third year and still be that sloppy?" Chicho didn't respond to the question, instead just rolled onto his back and began to nap… Aiko sighed and stood up walking toward the blonde.

"Oi, kid!" the boy glanced at her, _Major De ja vu… _

"Hey you're the new girl in our class" she nodded and stopped her approach, leaving a few meters between the two.

"Your form sucks" Naruto narrowed his eyes… he didn't want to hear this right now

"Oh don't ask my name or anything then" she shrugged

"Fine, I'm Aiko Inuzuka. And you are?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, the next Hokage!" the girl raised an eyebrow

"With that form?" again the blonde narrowed his eyes

"What can I do? None of the teachers except for Iruka teach me anything" a short silence passed before Aiko spoke again,

"Take a stance kid" Naruto looked at her with mild confusion before taking a basic fighting stance, the girl rolled her eyes and corrected the stance by moving his feet and arms.

"There, does that feel better?" The boy blushed at the contact and only nodded in response to the question, not entirely trusting his voice…

"Well don't just say yes, try it out! Run through a kata" The boy nodded and threw a punch at an imaginary opponent, followed by several others and a few blocks and a final kick, when he finished he glanced at the girl, stunned. Her memory flashed.

_She suddenly felt a pair of eyes staring at her, she glanced around the playground to see a pair of bright blue eyes watching her intently._

She shook the memory from her mind and looked at the blonde, _why was he so familiar…_

"Feels better then huh?" he only nodded dumbly…

"So much easier to move from one form to the other…" she nodded

"Yeah it's called fluidity, I'm surprised the teachers never corrected you… it only took a few seconds" the blonde scratched the back of his head,

"I don't really know, none of them seem to like me… except maybe Iruka" the girl narrowed her eyes… Why would the staff not want to teach a student? It's not like Naruto was a slow learner… sure he seemed to cause a lot of trouble, but to stop teaching all together? She shook her head…

_Does Iruka even know? I guess I'll have to talk to him on Monday…_She glanced back at the blonde who was now swiftly making his way through a few more kata's, a large smile plastered across his face… it was by no means a large improvement… but just large enough to bring him up to a similar level to the rest of the group… excluding herself and the Uchiha of course…

Ω - Monday Evening - Ω

"Iruka-sensei?" The man glanced up from his desk to see Aiko standing in front of him, a serious look on her face… he nodded and leaned back in his seat, gesturing to the seat nearest the front for the girl to sit in, a few seconds later she pulled the seat towards the desk and took a seat, leaning on the wood.

"What's wrong Aiko?" she sat in silence for a few seconds before meeting the chuunins eyes… choosing her words very carefully

"What is the… situation with Naruto?" Iruka's eyes flashed for a second before returning to normal, he let a small sigh off before meeting the girls eye contact full force,

"What do you know Aiko?" she moved her vision to look at her hands on the desk, unable to maintain such intense eye contact,

"I know that the teachers don't like him… they never taught him proper taijutsu, and from what I can tell he never learned how to control his chakra" Iruka let a small sigh of relief out as the girl revealed what she knew… The man rebuilt his composure quickly and studied Aiko's expression for any indication there was anything else she knew… he narrowed his eyes.

"What else Aiko?" _Damn he read me... _ the girl straightened in her seat and tried to meet the chuunins gaze.

"I also know that you're protecting him from someone" the man's eyes widened in shock momentarily, before he snapped them shut and rubbed his temple… this was not a good day.

"How do you know that Aiko…" the girl ducked her head in embarrassment

"I over head your conversation the other day…" the man sighed at his own stupidity… talking about such a secret in the academy? What was he thinking! A few seconds passed in silence

"Aiko… I suggest you stop digging for information about Naruto…" she girl raised an eyebrow at the man

"You're in danger of coming across a dangerous secret, for your own good… leave this alone" the girl narrowed her eyes, what is this…? Why is her sensei telling her to stay away from someone in need? She shook her head and stood from her seat.

"I won't turn a blind eye, the kid will end up dead if he ever goes on a mission" Iruka sighed in frustration and stood as well

"Fine, you can help him learn… just don't try and dig up his past… it won't do either of you any good" the girl nodded and stepped out of the classroom, a frown evident on her features… what is so secret about that boy? Iruka on the other hand was holding his head off the desk… _Hokage-sama needs to hear about this… I had no idea the teacher were being so bias against him…_

Ω

Iruka tried to return the steady gaze of the elderly Hokage as he stood in front of the man's desk, his steely gaze penetrating in through Iruka's eyes and figuring out everything from the inside out… a few seconds passed before he spoke,

"This is about Naruto then…" The chuunin nodded stiffly and placed a thin folder onto the Hokage's desk, pushing it towards the man, who released the seal and flipped through the pages.

"Hai Hokage-sama… It seems the other instructors discrimination against him is far worse than I previously thought… I can't look after him while I am teaching my own lessons, I request that there be hidden guards to properly determine the severity…" the old man nodded and closed the folder

"Accepted, I will have an ANBU watching him at any one time… thank you for admitting you were out of your depth Iruka" The younger man bowed respectfully at the comment

"Not at all sir, I'm sorry I failed you up to this point" Sarutobi sighed heavily and leaned back into his chair, resting an arm on each arm rest,

"It wasn't me you failed Iruka, but you mustn't blame yourself… it was only natural you trusted them, they are your peers after all" Iruka only nodded in response and turned to leave the room,

"I must be off then Hokage-sama… I need to see someone" Sarutobi nodded, with the faintest of smiles on his face, already fully aware of where the chuunin was headed.

Ω

Aiko was leaning heavily on a small boulder, staring at the mysterious blonde… between the teachers ignoring him, Iruka protecting him and Iruka's warning to her, she was sure that this boy must be elbow deep in serious problems… yet he looked completely indifferent, drawing attention to himself all the time, surely if he was some kind of fugitive he'd have the common sense to keep himself hidden? Though maybe it's a double bluff? Making himself stick out, to blend in… she milled around in her head various ideas while the boy finished off his current kata,

"Was that better Aiko-sensei?" she felt herself blush lightly at the addition of 'sensei' to her name but only nodded in response

"Ah, much better. Are you starting to feel the flow of the attacks now?" the boy nodded as he slipped from a blocking form into an aggressive stance,

"Yeah, it's a lot quicker going between forms as well" Aiko shifted her weight off the rock and walked towards the boy, stopping a few meters short

"Okay for our next lesson we're doing Justu" the boys face grew serious and he nodded while she spoke

"Last year the exam was on the substitution Justu so I'm assuming this year will be either clone or transformation, so show me your best transformation" as soon as she finished the sentence she felt herself being choked by the chakra the boy was producing… even at a few meters small pebbles were trembling on the floor, she quickly made a note of this before he screamed the technique and a huge plume of smoke exploded around the boy, as it cleared it revealed a disappointed looking Naruto, _He botched it?_

"What happened kid?" he looked at the floor in embarrassment

"I-I can't really do it" she shook her head

"I'm not really surprised, you used about a thousand times too much chakra, and most of that was wasted…" the boy raised an eyebrow

"Wasted? How do you mean?" she sighed to herself, either he really didn't listen in class, or the teachers were a lot worse than she thought,

"Okay… when you were building your chakra, did you notice the pebbles on the floor?" he nodded

"Well the fact that they were moving shows you were wasting a lot of chakra, you have to keep all you're chakra in your body when building it up or there's no point" he remade the seal and began building his chakra again, Aiko nodded, this time not feeling the choking presence.

"Good, now you feel all that chakra you've got? You only need about a tenth of it" the boy made the faintest of nods before repressing as much of the chakra as possible.

"Henge!" A few seconds later a slightly smaller plume of smoke erupted around the boy, revealing a seemingly accurate duplicate of Aiko. The girl did a small double take and examined the technique, this kid was a fast learner…

"That was good Naruto, but Aiko? Do you see the problem?" both children glanced into a nearby tree to see a smiling Iruka waving casually at them, Aiko raised an eyebrow and re examined the boy. She made a small smirk and nodded, pointing at his trousers.

"Naruto, you have your kunai holster on the wrong leg" the boy glanced down and sighed to himself… something so simple gave him away?

"Transformation is about deception Naruto, and the key to deception lies in the details" the blonde nodded at Iruka's speech and reformed the seal,

"Henge!" the same smoke exploded around the boy and revealed a replica of Iruka, both Aiko and Iruka washed their eyes over the boy, searching for faults, finding none the pair smiled and nodded, a second passed before Naruto dropped the technique, revealing a large smile. Iruka found himself smiling fondly at the pair in front of him, but quickly remembered the reason he came in the first place,

"Naruto, would you like some Ramen? There are a few things I'd like to discuss with you… Aiko is free to come along if she wants, my treat" both children nodded at the offer and watched as the chuunin leapt from the tree,

"Let's go then! I found this great little ramen shop, I think you'll like it"

Ω

Naruto glanced nervously at the tender behind the bar, a young woman in her early 20's was smiling as she took Iruka's order, a few seconds later she turned and took Aiko's, then glanced at Naruto with a large smile

"And your order?" the boy was instantly confused… why was this woman being so nice to him? The civilians hated him… something wasn't right here, a few seconds passed in silence before the girls smile faltered slightly, she glanced at Iruka in slight confusion before the man leaned toward Naruto and whispered in his ear.

"This stand just opened up, the staff come from far away so they don't have any problem with you Naruto" the man grinned at the expression he found on the blondes face, a mixture between awe, hope and pure joy, Aiko also watched the exchange… though she had no idea what the man had said, the effect was instant. The loud blonde was awakened once again and he quickly announced he was going to try everything on the menu, the girl gave a lopsided smirk and yelled the order to her father who agreed without question much to the surprise of Iruka, rebuilding his composure the man glanced at the blonde sitting next to him, then to the brunette on the blondes far side.

"Naruto… Thanks to Aiko here, I've learned some disturbing information… I just need you to confirm a few things for me" the blonde nearly flinched at the man's tone, but nodded slightly, searching the man's eyes for any clue, seeing none he waited in rare silence for the questions, Aiko narrowed her eyes… this was a perfect opportunity for her to gain some info on Naruto, and his… 'situation'

"Okay… the other instructors at the academy… they treat you, differently?" the blonde nodded slowly not entirely sure where this was being taken,

"Hai… they yell at me for anything and blame everything on me, mostly just make me stand outside the class all the time" Iruka mentally made a note of the information before continuing,

"Who would you say is the worst?" Naruto remained silent for a few seconds before replying

"Mizuki-sensei… he acts nice to me… but there's something not right, some of the looks he gives me scare me" Iruka ducked his head in mild shame... _Mizuki… even you?_

"Is there anything else Naruto?" the blonde paused for a few seconds while a few bowls of ramen were placed around him then shook his head, Iruka nodded and began to eat his own ramen, slightly relieved that this seemed to be the extent of the instructors damage, he was very aware that it was a very real possibility that an instructor could have attacked him, or put him in real danger. Mean while Aiko only listened and stored the information… this kid was becoming more of a mystery… even Mizuki-sensei… her own instructor for the past few years was a culprit… she couldn't see it. Yet she could tell that Naruto wasn't lying, he has no reason to after all. A few seconds passed as the trio ate their noodles before Iruka spoke again.

"Naruto… I want you to come to the training field every day at 6 am before class, okay?" the blonde raised an eyebrow as he finished his second bowl.

"Uh… okay, how come sensei?" The man gave a small smile

"I'm going to make up from what the other instructors didn't teach you" Naruto felt his eyes widen in shock as he could only nod dumbly at the elder man, Aiko grinned as well… she was already planning on joining the pair, at the very least she'd get some training done… maybe even do some more digging.

"You know this Ramen is actually really good…" Iruka could only smile at the boy

"I'm glad you like it Naruto"

"Really really good…" Both Iruka and Aiko felt a shiver run down their spines, as if something awful had just happened.

Ω

"N-nani?" Aiko smirked at Choji's dumbfounded expression, not only was Naruto not unconscious after one blow, but he'd actually landed an effective counter attack. All the academy students turned their heads to the spar. All had thought Naruto's usual performance would mean the spar would be over quickly. Aiko turned her gaze to Iruka for a few seconds to take in the proud twinkle in his eyes, this is clearly what he wanted as a teacher.

"Naruto's not gone down?" Sakura raised an eyebrow at the scene, Choji was standing facing the blonde with open confusion, heavily favouring his right leg. Returning her gaze to the boy Aiko could see Naruto's lip twitch as he bit back a smile, feeling everyone's eyes on him… and for once, they weren't judging him, the confusion in their eyes was obvious.

"Looks like you're getting rusty Choji!" Kiba grinned at the Akamichi who only shook his head and retook his normal stance. Strictly speaking Aiko knew Naruto was at a disadvantage. Choji was from a clan that was well practised in mainly taijutsu arts, so they had their own clan forms that Naruto didn't know, where as Choji had studied the academy forms for almost his entire school life. She mentally shook her head, no this was definitely going to be a hard fight for Naruto, but already she could see his improvements, and she wasn't the only one either.

"The dobe has improved" Sakura and Ino flinched at the voice before giggling madly and shyly waving at Sasuke who was still watching the match,

"At least someone noticed…" Aiko grinned to herself and ignored the short glare Sasuke sent her, ever since she'd joined the class a few weeks earlier he'd sent her all manner of glares, it was fairly easy to ignore… _I feel sorry for whoever gets landed with him…_

"Victory goes to Choji" Aiko glanced at Naruto who was climbing to his feet and nursing his shoulder where Choji had knocked him off balance. Instead of anger or embarrassment she saw that Naruto had a small smile, he caught her eye for a second and his smile grew, sending her a small wink that made her feel like they were sharing some kind of private joke. She approached him and sat down on the grass, ignoring the curious stares sent in their direction.

"Seems like you're not too worried about losing to Choji" the blonde nodded and gently prodded at his shrinking bruise, Aiko raised an eyebrow at the speed the bruise was disappearing.

"Hey, your bruise is almost gone" the boy smiled and nodded

"Yeah I'm always a fast healer" she narrowed her eyes slightly, _There's a slight difference between healing fast and this… This is like lightning speed.._

"Aiko, You're up next!" the girl raised her eyes to glance at the teacher, who was staring at her firmly, clear caution in his expression… she could immediately tell he was worried about something, she could only nod as her brain collected the facts for her to put together later.

Ω

"What do you mean… a test?" Naruto looked with confusion at his teacher, The silver haired man gave a short chuckle and pulled out a small scroll,

"The information is all of this scroll, a special exam Naruto, specially designed for you" The blondes eyes sparkled slightly at the idea

"You've been improving a lot recently, so the Hokage and myself talked about a special exam. If you pass you will be promoted straight to chuunin" Naruto's mouth dropped to the floor as the man spoke. This was an opportunity he couldn't miss

"Okay! I'll do it Mizuki-sensei! What's the mission?" the man nodded and smiled broadly

"Excellent! I knew you would, Now the mission is simple. There is a certain scroll in the Hokage's main library, called the scroll of sealing. Your mission is to take it and take it to a drop point of my choice" Naruto's smiled faltered ever so slightly

"Break into old man Hokage's? That's… impossible isn't it?" Mizuki shook his head

"It's far from impossible Naruto-kun, and you didn't think this would be easy did you? This is the hardest exam you'll ever face, do you think you can do it?" The blonde was silent for a few seconds

"Well?" Rare determination sparked across Naruto's eyes as he glanced at the teacher,

"I'll do it! Where's the drop point?" Mizuki grinned and flipped the scroll over revealing a map of the nearby forest, his finger rested on a clearing a few hundred yards from the main gate, Naruto nodded and made a run for the Hokage's tower, leaving Mizuki alone outside the boys apartment.

_See you soon, Naruto-kun…_

The man grinned and walked toward the stairs, this was almost too easy… a quiet creak sounded behind him, his eyes widened for a second as he quickly glanced behind him, retrieving a kunai from his holster… He narrowed his eyes sharply. Whatever it was… it was fast, but now it was long gone.

_A cat?_ He sighed and continued walking down the stairs, replacing his kunai.

Ω

The elderly Hokage was leaning heavily in his chair when three heavy knocks sounded on his door, refilling his pipe he called the person to enter, a second later two ANBU were kneeling in the centre of the room, both with their masks staring firmly at the floor.

"Speak"

"Yes sir, whilst observing the target a short exchange took place between him and a suspect. Here is the file detailing the event" the slightly smaller ANBU held a file up for the man to take, he did and quickly scanned over the information.

"He's using Naruto to steal the scroll?" both ANBU nodded

"What are your orders?" the old man stroked his beard and took a long drag of his pipe… This could go wrong in any number of ways,

"Let the events play their course, cover the drop site and all escape routes, let's see if Mizuki was working alone in this" both ANBU chimed affirmative and disappeared in a plume of steam.

"Iruka will want to hear of this…"

Ω

**AND that is chapter one! Am I a bad man? **


	2. Chapter 2

**Last time! Aiko failed her genin exam and ended up in the same class as Naruto and the crew. On the first day in her new class she overheard Iruka talking about protecting Naruto. Being an Inuzuka she decided to try and dig up this secret, driven by the fact that she recognises the blonde for some reason. In an attempt to find out his past she aids him in his training and is soon joined by Iruka, together the two improve his skills to the point where it looks like he will pass the genin exam. This forces Mizuki's hand, making him approach Naruto a lot sooner regarding the Hokages scroll. **

**Ω**

Naruto landed heavily on a branch, kicking up a thin haze of sawdust from the splintered bark. His eyes wide as he stared forward at his target… the Hokage's tower, he'd always thought about playing a prank within those walls. But he had never gone through with it, it always seemed impenetrable. ANBU guards stationed at several points, and these weren't the nice ANBU that would let you off with a warning… these guys meant business.

He took a shallow breath and retrieved a blunted kunai from his pouch, digging it into the trunk of his tree, creating a small step. He lowered his weight onto the knife tenderly before tying a strand of wire through the iron loop on the handle. Slowly he scaled down the tree using the wire, he hadn't seen any ANBU tonight though… was it because of the test? They couldn't make it too hard, he was only in the academy after all. He kept to the shadows of the trees and quietly made his way to the large wall that surrounded the compound, one chance is all he would get… He closed his eyes for a second in silent prayer before launching a kunai over the wall, the wire trailing behind it, a few seconds passed before a loud smash sounded, he cringed at the volume but wasted no time in attaching the other end of the wire to a large tree root and then scaling the wall using the wire. Silently he ran along the wall until he saw his target, the library.

He scanned the building for possible entry… "skylight" he muttered under his breath then continued running along the wall, a few seconds passed before he slowed his run, he came to a halt and gingerly looked down from the top of the wall… a good 16 foot drop. It'd definitely hurt if he fell… maybe even break something… it was only a 6 foot jump to the side of the library… if he could grab the thick ivy clinging to the building side he'd be able to scale it to the roof, then to the skylight. He shook any doubt from his head and leapt.

It was annoyingly loud when he hit the building… he hadn't realised it was metal. A very loud clang was currently ringing throughout the building, he cringed hard and began to scale the ivy to the roof. Once there he saw the skylight, originally a lot smaller than he thought… but it'd do, he peered through the glass and smiled… directly below him was a scroll on a large pedestal. _'That must be it'_

Seconds later the blonde was free falling, a startled look on his face… it seemed the skylight hadn't been reinforced, and couldn't take his weight. The sound of glass shattering against the oak floor was deafening, Naruto waited in silence for the ANBU to arrive and take him away, they never came though. Silently he raised his head to see the scroll, still on the pedestal, no ANBU and no Hokage… He quickly thanked the nine and grabbed the scroll, fastening it across his back. Then he was gone, running through the library to the large window he'd spotted earlier, if his kunai earlier had been accurate, it should be around here… _'There!_'

Sure enough, it was, imbedded deep into the wood of a large pillar the wire trailing behind it to the compound wall, where the other end of the wire was tied to the tree root. He allowed himself a smile as he ran along the wire, leaping from the wall and then dashing into the forest. The entire event was over within two minutes… this was the first time he had actually felt like a ninja, and he was proud.

Ω

"Shadow clone jutsu…" the blonde felt himself smile, he had no idea that the scroll contained jutsu,

"I'll be damned if I pass this opportunity up" he quickly climbed to his feet and laid the scroll at his feet, narrowing his eyes in an attempt to focus…

"One hand sign…" he pushed a small amount of chakra into the technique and screamed the name

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" small plume exploded around him to reveal a very sickly looking clone, the blonde sighed and glanced at the scroll… '_what did I do wrong…'_ he re-read the explanation then returned his gaze to the clone, '_not enough chakra huh?' _as if on cue the clone slumped backward clinging heavily to a tree trunk… a few seconds passed before Naruto noticed…

"Y-you just… grabbed that tree" the clone looked back with a queasy facial expression,

"I-I don't feel very good…" as if speaking was too much pain for the clone to bare it then burst into a small sachet of steam, Naruto's grin returned fully,

"Solid clones huh… I bet they'll come in useful"

Ω

"Naruto!"

"Naruto where are you!" Iruka growled in frustration, it had been over an hour since Naruto was supposed to have met Mizuki at the drop point, what was going on? He hated the idea of using Naruto as bait to lure of traitors… But he could see the Hokage had good intentions, even if he didn't agree with his methods.

"Naruto!" Out of the corner of his eye Iruka saw a flash of yellow, his heart beat soared as he dashed towards it, flaring his chakra as a signal for the ANBU to follow. Seconds passed agonisingly slowly as he made his way to a clearing, in the centre was the blonde he had been looking for, next to him was Mizuki…

Ω

"Well done Naruto, I'm impressed" The blonde snapped his head to glance at his instructor entering the clearing, a warm smile on his face,

"Not only did you collect the scroll, but you also learned from it, seriously well done" the boy smiled at the praise

"Thanks sensei! Does that mean I passed?" the man looked to be in thought for a few seconds before nodding with a grin, "Congratulations Naruto, just give me the scroll and we can make it official" the man held out his hand with a sickeningly sweet smile, Naruto flinched for a single second before rising to his feet.

"Naruto?" the blonde narrowed his eyes, but it was already too late. A pair of arms wrapped around his waist, gripping tightly. The blonde turned as much as he could to see Mizuki was behind him, a large shuriken fastened to his back, he whipped his head forward to the Mizuki he had been talking to, just to see it disappear. '_shit! Bunshin!'_

A second later, Naruto was sailing through the air before cracking heavily against a tree trunk, another second he was forced face down into the dirt, Mizuki was already upon him, a kunai at his neck.

"Well well, here we are Naruto-_Kun"_ the man spat out the honorific as he stared down distastefully at the blonde, he lowered his head to whisper in the blondes ear.

"You're going to die tonight Naruto" he took glee in the small gasp that escaped the boys mouth before gripping the back of his jumpsuit tightly and flinging him across the clearing, into the centre. The blonde didn't seem to be fighting back, he was pale, and shaking… _'He must've gone into shock'_ a few seconds passed before the man tossed a kunai, embedding it into the blondes shoulder, pinning him to the ground. The boys yell erupted signalling that the injury had awoken him from shock, seconds later a dozen kunai and shuriken shot out of the forest to the spot where Mizuki stood, the man dodged back and glanced into the darkness to see Iruka, running toward him, as fast as he could.

Another kunai forced Mizuki to dodge yet further back, giving Iruka enough time to place himself between the blonde and Mizuki,

"What is this Mizuki!" the silver haired man stood silently for a few seconds before speaking,

"Naruto. You can hear me right?" Iruka spared a glance over his shoulder to see the blonde clutching the kunai handle protruding from his collar, staring violently at Mizuki. The silver haired man seemed to enjoy the glare as a small smile appeared,

"You still don't know, do you?" Iruka's eyes widened, "No! Mizuki don't do it!" the blonde switched his glance from the traitor to the man now standing in front of him, slight confusion in his pained expression.

"Why everyone hates you, I mean" Iruka fired off a few shuriken and jumped forward only to be forced back by Mizuki's larger shuriken cutting a path through the thick grass toward him,

"Why the whole village would prefer to have you dead!"

"Mizuki! It's forbidden!" Iruka managed to knock the shuriken off course with a swift swipe from one of his denser kunai,

"It's because the nine tailed fox spirit is within you! The beast that attacked our village 12 years ago dwells within your gut!" Iruka threw his kunai at the man, hoping to end his sentence, Mizuki only ducked under it, with an evil glint in his eye.

"You ARE the nine tailed fox!" Naruto stared forward in silence, his eyes wide and brimming with unshed tears, Iruka spared a glance at the boy and felt his heart drop.

"He's wrong Naruto," the blonde switched his view to focus on the brunette man

"It is true that you hold the spirit of the nine tailed fox" the blonde's facial expression twisted into one of grief,

"But every day you hold it, is another day you save our village from destruction" Naruto blinked to himself…

"You are the hero that protects us from the beast Naruto, and you won't fall tonight!" a few second passed before Mizuki laughed,

"Iruka, do you really believe that?" Naruto glanced at the brunette hopefully, without a seconds hesitation the man spoke again

"I do, you were wrong Mizuki, right from the start" the man only sighed and patted the scroll that was now strapped across his back, "Whatever Iruka, I'm leaving now anyway" he smirked "ja-ne"

"You're not leaving" Mizuki's eyes shrank to pin heads at the voice, he quickly turned as several kunai exploded from the darkness of the forest thick chains trailing behind them, each kunai wrapping around a limb before planting themselves in the dirt.

"You're coming with me" Naruto saw Iruka's stance relax as a tall man wearing a trench coat entered the clearing,

"Ibiki-san… It's about time" the man raised an eyebrow at Iruka,

"What was that runt?" Iruka had the decency to look sheepish as several ANBU entered the clearing

"We were told to let the events play out Iruka, I hope the Hokage isn't too annoyed with you" the brunette sighed and nodded, before glancing back at Naruto.

"Do you have a medic?" Ibiki shook his head and nodded in the direction of two ANBU, the two then stalked toward Naruto, quickly removing the Kunai then disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

"He's been taken to Konoha general, the Hokage is probably already there" Iruka nodded and allowed a final look at Mizuki before turning toward the city.

Ω

Sarutobi stood with a stony expression on his face, he removed his pipe from his mouth and released a thin stream of smoke, all the while his eyes staring at the blonde laid out on the hospital bed before him… this was not a situation he had foreseen, he never meant for Naruto to discover the fox from anyone but himself, this would make him less trustworthy in the blondes eyes and he knew it. His eyes narrowed slightly as he returned the pipe to his mouth, he needed to handle this delicately… a rogue Jinjuriki was the last thing he, or the village needed right now.

As if on cue Naruto shifted in his sleep and began to raise his head, blinking repeatedly in an obvious attempt to focus his eyes, Sarutobi stubbed out his pipe and waited for Naruto to acknowledge him.

"O-old man?" Sarutobi nodded

"How are you feeling Naruto-kun?" the boy raised is palms and stared at his fingers for a few seconds

"Everything a bit blurry" he sounded as if he was still half asleep,

"You lost a lot of blood, you will feel better by tomorrow" the blonde seemed satisfied as he let his head flop back down onto the pillow. Silence reigned for almost twenty minutes before the blonde mustered his courage.

"Why… didn't you tell-"

"Would it have changed anything?" the man cut him off, the blonde looked thoughtful for a second before closing his eyes

"Yes, at least I would have known" the boy whispered so quietly the old man wasn't sure if he was supposed to have heard it, he sighed and glanced out the window. It was necessary to hide it from Naruto… if he had known, then he would probably have tried to tap into it's power to get revenge, he was only a child after all… he had heard horror stories from Suna about their Jinjuriki, he was confident he had made the right decision.

"I'm sorry Naruto, I know I should have told you… but I did what I thought was right" the blonde didn't respond immediately, a few seconds passed where the elderly man gauged his reaction, then the boy nodded almost imperceptibly. The man mentally patted himself on the back, at least he wouldn't have to worry right now, Jinjuriki are almost not worth the hastle. He was by no means prejudice against the blonde, and he did revere him as a hero, but at such a young age… with so much power, there was no denying the Jinjuriki were dangerous.

"Mizuki-sensei was lying then, wasn't he… about the exam" It wasn't a question, the elderly Hokage nodded,

"I'm afraid so Naruto, you'll have to finish at the academy, with the rest" the boy didn't seem disappointed by this,

"I suppose I should've seen it… straight to chunin.. That's crazy" he managed a small smile, " At least I won't make the same mistake again" The Hokage showed little emotion as he stood silently at the foot of the bed, inside he was seething… Mizuki would indeed be punished for this,

"Continue to work hard and you will become a strong ninja Naruto, tonight proved that" the blonde smiled at the ceiling,

"Thanks old man" he raised his head as he spoke, to realise the room was now empty, a small sigh escaped his lips, again he lowered his head, slipping into evil dreams.

Ω

Aiko stared at Naruto's seat, directly in front of her… It wasn't uncommon for him to miss a lesson, or even an entire day, but over the last few months he had begun to enjoy his time at the academy, she could tell… maybe it was the fact that he was actually being tutored now, or maybe it was to do with her? She pinched her brow at the thought… what made her think of that? It was absurd, of course… she hadn't really had much interaction with the boy, aside from a few shared meals, with Iruka and the occasional morning training session. But the point was, him missing a day was raising alarm bells for her…

"Aiko, please pay attention, I know you've heard it all before, but-" She glanced at Iruka, he looked tired, maybe even hurt… he was usually a lot more enthusiastic in his lessons.

"I will, sorry" the man nodded and continued his lecture, turning to the large blackboard. As soon as he did she returned her focus onto Naruto's seat… _Something must've happened to him, I need to ask Iruka-sensei about it after class…_

Ω

The lunch bell shook Aiko from her thoughts, she glanced around to see most of the class filing out of the room, Iruka returning to his desk and retrieving a pen from a pocket on his flak jacket. She remained still for a few seconds, waiting for the other students to leave the room, before climbing out of her seat and walking over to the desk.

"I can't tell you what happened Aiko" the man spoke without even looking up from the papers scattered on his desk, she swallowed… it couldn't be good then.

"I-is he hurt?" the man let out a very quiet sigh before dropping the pen onto the desk and leaning back into his chair, shifting his weight from one arm rest to the other. Still not making eye contact.

"He lost a lot of blood, if it was any other student, they would probably be dead" at this point he raised his head to meet hers, she swiftly glanced to the floor, not entirely sure how to take the news.

"He's at Konoha General, tell the receptionist I sent you" the girl nodded and turned toward the class room door,

"He'll be fine, don't worry" his voice was confident and held a trace of a smirk, as if he was in on some kind of joke she wasn't aware of. She made her way over to the class room door… what should she do? What could she do? She sighed under her breath then raised her head and walked towards the lunch hall, Naruto probably wouldn't miss her anyway.

Ω

"Murderer.." Naruto woke with a start, snapping himself alert with a single fluid motion, his breathing was heavy as he clinged to the bed sheets like a child. Cold sweat matted his skin and hair making the hospital gown stick to his form. A few seconds passed while he regained his breath, the same word resonating in his head… _Murderer._ He lightly slapped his cheeks to rid himself of the voice, though it made no difference. Eventually the echo repeated itself into inexistence. He was used to Iruka being there when he awoke in hospital, this time he wasn't… it was slightly scary if he was honest, he shook his head and swooped his legs out from under the blanket. Cringing slightly from the cold floor he rose to his feet, pulling back the curtain that obscured his view of the rest of the ward… Just as he had hoped, his clothes were neatly folded on a table, along with a closed envelope. He eyed the letter with caution. He'd never received good news through one, grimacing slightly he peeled open the envelope and pulled out its contents.

"_Naruto,_

_I'm sorry I couldn't wait for you to wake up, but without Mizuki-teme at the academy, I can't afford to miss a lesson, _

_I hope you understand, so get well soon, Iruka_

_P.s – Follow your nurses orders this time! " _

The boy read over it a few times before grinning, even though Iruka couldn't stay, he wanted to, it was nice to have someone worry about him. He spared no time in getting changed and so threw his clothes on as he ran through the ward leaving only his gown behind. But this was an odd situation… where should he go? Usually he would go and train in the forest over the Hokage monument, but some part of him wanted to go to class, to see Iruka. He narrowed his eyes at the strange desire… never before had he WANTED to go to the academy, to lessons… A few seconds passed where he stood silently staring down two roads, leading in two directions, in one direction he could see the entrance to the Academy, in the other he could see the crown of the monument…

"Naruto?" The boy flinched so hard he fell over, glancing up he saw two boys,

"How come you're so late?" Naruto climbed to his feet quickly and ran returned his eyes to look at the two, Nara Shikamaru and Akamichi Chouji. He raised his hand to the back of his neck and laughed quietly,

"Ah I was in the hospital again" Chouji tilted his head in apparent concern whilst the Nara fractionally raised an eyebrow before returning it to its place.

"Again Naruto? Mah, you have to be more careful" Naruto grinned and glanced down the road to the academy.. '_I guess I'll go back with these two'_

Ω

Naruto sighed as he leaned back into the wooden chair, silently he cast his mind back over the last few months… He had made a lot of progress as a shinobi, and was confident he would be able to pass the genin exam. He smiled to himself as he glanced at Iruka giving his lecture at the front of the room. He owed so much to the man, he'd been training him almost every morning from 6 am until class started at 9 am. But the boy knew that 5 months of training would never be a substitute for the years that the other students had on him, at the moment he was brought to the low end of the class, and able to beat a lot of Sasuke's fangirls in a spar easily, which Naruto thought the Uchiha was secretly grateful for. After all once they had realised that _Dead Last _was able to beat them in a spar they began to up their own training, leaving the Uchiha alone to do his brooding in peace.

As well as Iruka he owed his current success to Inuzuka Aiko, she was an odd girl, just a year older than him, but seemed to be extremely knowledgeable and skilled. He dared a glance over his shoulder to see the girl half asleep on her desk, as if feeling his stare she glanced at him, then smiled sparing a curt wave, he grinned and allowed a small wave back, before turning back to the front of the room. She was quite a bit taller than him, maybe a few inches taller than Sasuke, always wearing the same jacket that Kiba wore, maybe it was a clan thing? He wasn't sure. Her hair was short and unruly, a dark brown like her puppies which was now getting to be a lot bigger than Akamaru, when she had joined the class they were a similar size, but now her dog was almost twice as big and had to walk for itself rather than in the girls hood, he had a feeling Chicho was going to grow into a very large dog.

But again the boy sighed, as much as he liked the girl he didn't consider her a friend. She was always acting strange around him, almost suspicious… he wasn't sure if he liked it, a number of times he had caught her looking at him during lunch breaks or spars, but she wasn't staring in the same way Sakura would stare at Sasuke, it was different… way different, like she was confused and annoyed at the same time. All the same… if, no, _when, _he passed the genin exam he did secretly hope to be on her team. The blonde was shaken from his thoughts when a firm knock on the door signalled the return of a student from the examination room, proudly showing off his brand new hitai-ate, Iruka nodded approvingly at the boy before turning back to the class,

"Naruto! You're up! Remember relax, breath and take your time" the blonde nodded as he stood from his desk and slowly made his way towards the examination room, as he left the room he glanced back and saw Aiko giving him a thumbs up from her seat. He smiled as he left and began the short walk to the room knocking twice and waiting for approval, a few seconds passed before a familiar voice sounded from behind the wood, allowing him entry. He blinked in confusion as he opened the door, coming face to face with three white haired men and an instructor he recognised to be the examiner, looking at the four in turn he only recognised two of them. The Hokage was the first to speak,

"Hello there Naruto-kun, I hope you don't mind if myself and these" he gestured to the other two white haired men in the room, "stay and observe, would you?" the boy shook his head slowly, not entirely trusting his voice, he could tell without being told that these men wielded a lot of power. The Hokage nodded and took a seat, motioning for one of the other white haired to sit as well, as he did Naruto was able to get a proper look at his clothes… which were in a word, bizarre. He wore a dirty green shirt and trouser combo, with a flowing red over coat which lacked sleeves, as he sat he un-slung a large scroll from his back and placed it against his chair. On his forehead he wore a horned head band with the kanji for oil… was this man even part of the leaf village? He seemed to be very familiar with the Hokage, so the boy assumed he must be in some way. As for the other white haired man, he was unremarkable, aside from the large amount of his face that was covered. Only one eye was left visible and that was currently tucked into a small orange book, the other eyes was covered by his slanted hitai-ate, aside from that he wore the normal Jounin attire and so Naruto was accurately able to tell he was part of the village. A few seconds passed in silence before the examiner coughed, clearly uncomfortable with so many men in the room, he then turned to Naruto and spoke.

"Uzumaki Naruto, in order to pass this exam you will need to successfully execute the bunshin and henge jutsu. Feel free to start with either" Naruto shifted his gaze from the examiner to each of the other men in turn, the Hokage and Red Jacket steadily returned his gaze but the Cyclops seemed to interested in the book to take notice,

"Um, sensei" the man nodded for the boy to continue, "Is it okay if I do a kage bunshin instead of a regular?" the Cyclops looked up from his book, other than that gave little to no reaction to the sentence, the Hokage and Red Jacket gave no reaction at all, the examiner how ever allowed his eyes to widen slightly and his mouth to fall open for a second before composing himself.

"I… I guess, if you think you can" the blonde nodded before forming the seal and closing his eyes, speaking the name of the technique at an audible volume,

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu" a second later there were three blondes standing in front of the spectators, the examiner sat back in his chair and smiled broadly, before making a larger than average tick on his grading sheet, everyone missed the Cyclops' visible eye widen very slightly at the use of the technique. All three Naruto's shifted their seals into the henge and spoke together,

"Henge" a small plume of steam erupted and cleared slowly to reveal an accurate presentation of the Hokage, the Red Jacket and the examiner. A few seconds passed while those present scanned for inaccuracies, finding none the examiner nodded and picked up a hitai-ate holding it out for the blonde to take.

"Uzumaki Naruto, I am proud to present you with this hitai-ate, it is a symbol of your service to the village, wear it proudly!" the blonde took it and gave a mock salute before bowing and thanking the examiner, then nodding to the others present giving them all a large smile.

"Well done Naruto-kun, you've improved a lot lately… I have no doubt you will become a very powerful ninja" the blonde thanked the elderly Hokage before turning and running back to Iruka's class room, already wearing the headband across his forehead. As the door closed the Hokage spoke again.

"So what are your thoughts Kakashi?" the Cyclops shifted his eye back to the book and a few seconds passed while those present thought he wouldn't answer,

"I think he has potential… You're sure you want me to be his instructor?" the old man nodded as the man with the Red Jacket stood up

"You know sensei, it's not really fair to force two students onto the same guy…" Sarutobi nodded slowly before responding

"I know it's not normally done… but it is necessary, we need your sharingan to watch over the Kyuubi vessel and to help the Uchiha unlock his own" the man now identified as Kakashi sighed and nodded as if to himself,

"Yeah I get it… but can I ask for one thing in return?" the man raised his eyes from the book to look the elderly man directly in the eye, waiting for his approval to continue, the man sighed and checked himself, he was sure Kakashi wouldn't take advantage of this situation to do anything to outrageous and nodded. The Cyclops returned his eye to the book and spoke

"I want the right to pick my third student with absolutely no restrictions" the Red Jacket laughed and turned to the Hokage,

"I think that's a fair deal sensei, accept before he asks for something worse" the elderly man nodded

"Okay Kakashi, you'll have total freedom to pick any student within that class. I'm afraid that's the best I can do for now, have your choice ready for tomorrow or it'll be luck of the draw" Kakashi nodded and told the pair that he'd stay to observe the other genin hopefuls to determine a good choice. Sarutobi nodded and made a short bow to the examiner

"Pardon the intrusion Aoba-san, feel free to continue your examinations now, Jiraiya, we'd better go before the next student arrives" the Red Jacket nodded and walked towards the door, opening it to see a short girl with her hand extended as if about to knock, stepping aside to allow her to enter he glanced at the Hokage who was walking towards the door, as he passed the girl he wished her luck then continued out.

"Are you sure about this sensei… putting all of the villages sharingan onto one team is just asking for disaster, add the vessel and you're looking at a serious gamble" The hokage took a few seconds to respond, pausing often as he spoke, obviously doubting his own thoughts on the matter.

"The only other alternative is to have Yamato-san take the vessel and teach him… but that way he will be without a team. Yamato is not ready to be a Jounin instructor yet, and so Naruto will meet him when they are both ready" as he finished speaking the elderly man began to sound confident… yes. This was the right… or the only way to do things right now.

"And the matter of the sharingan?" Jiraiya already knew there was nothing to be done… after all Kakashi was the only living man in the world willing to teach the Uchiha how to use his sharingan, and so he wasn't surprised when the Hokage decided against answering the question at all.

Ω

The next day Naruto found himself sitting beside Sakura Haruno, she was one of the first fangirls he'd managed to beat and one of the last to start training seriously… at one point a few weeks before he had the beginnings of a crush on the girl, but that was swiftly rushed after seeing her continue to chase Sasuke after the other girls in the class had began to take their training more seriously, on the other side of the kunoichi hopeful was the Sasuke Uchiha, brooding silently, taking no notice of the pink haired girl jabbering in his ear. A few minutes passed before their instructor arrived, calling for quiet, all those that weren't already in their seats began to walk towards them, quickly ending any conversations before waiting for their instructor to give them their teams.

"Okay class, first off I want to say it has been more than an honour teaching all of you, you will all make fine shinobi one day, I just hope you remember your old teacher when you're all clan heads" the man ruffled his own hair and laughed at his own joke before walking over to his desk, retrieving a piece of paper. Holding it up for all to see he spoke in a much more serious tone,

"This is the list that has all of your teams and sensei's on it. I'll run through it now and again when the jounin arrive, any questions?" when no hands rose into the air the man began to read down the list.

With each team that was read out the blonde grew more excited and nervous, they were already at team six and he hadn't been named yet, only ten teams were being named this year, meaning any left over's would be kept on the roster for the next genin selection.

"Team seven! The Jounin in charge of this group will be Hatake Kakashi-" a second later the heavy wooden door exploded off its hinges and fell onto the floor, Naruto's eyes widened when he saw the white haired man from the day before stroll into the room, the Cyclops.

"Oh… you can't have heard me knocking, did someone just say my name?" Iruka raised an eyebrow at the man and then sighed,

"You're early Kakashi… about forty five minutes early" The man gasped and staggered backwards as if he'd been struck,

"B-but Hokage-sama told me orientation started an hour ago!" Iruka slapped his forehead and growled

"That's probably because you're always late!" Kakashi 'Humphed' and pulled out his orange book, immediately his aura changed, from the seemingly childish or fun character to the calm collected ninja that was now visible,

"Well that's enough Iruka… I'll collect my students early then" the scarred chunin stiffened slightly at the change before turning back to the list,

"Team Seven will be, Aiko Inuzuka, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha" the three students exchanged glances before Naruto stood, he stared into the one visible eye of his teacher for a few seconds before walking down towards the bottom of the room, followed a few seconds later by Aiko, then Sasuke. Kakashi cast an eye over the Uchiha who bristled slightly under his gaze. Returning his eyes to the book he called for the three to follow him to the roof.

Ω

When the four arrived at the roof the Kakashi in front of them burst into steam, revealing him to be a shadow clone, a few seconds passed in silence, Naruto's eyes wide… that technique… the kage bunshin…

"Yo" he slowly turned his head to the balcony where he saw his teacher leaning against the barrier shamelessly reading his novel, not even sparing them a passing glance.

"So you're my cute little students?" Sasuke sighed under his breath but said nothing, the three approached the man but then sat on the steps in front of him, expecting him to explain himself. A few minutes passed in silence before Naruto spoke up,

"That technique… the kag-"

"The Kage bunshin, yes, what about it?"

"How did you lear-"

"A better question would be: how did _you?"_ Naruto squirmed from his position but chose to speak again, ignoring the questioning looks from Aiko and Sasuke

"You can teach me to use it better?" the man raised his eye from his book for the first time that Naruto saw,

"That's what teachers are for… but not right now" the man closed his book and placed it within his pouch, looking at each genin in turn,

"Okay then… why don't you introduce yourselves?" when neither of the three made a move to start the man stood up from his leaning position and bent forward,

"Maybe I should start… My name is Hatake Kakashi, you can call me Kakashi-sensei, I enjoy reading and being challenged, I live by my nindo, which is to always put my comrades before my mission and I dislike those who don't" he then gestured to Naruto "You next blondie" Naruto narrowed his eyes at the nickname but chose to let it pass,

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I like Iruka-sensei and ramen, I dislike those who judge me and seafood ramen, I guess I've never really thought about a nindo… that's about all" the man nodded satisfied then pointed at Aiko, who was scratching chicho under his chin

"Inuzuka next" the girl nodded and began to speak

"My name is Inuzuka Aiko, I like Chicho and my clan, I dislike being told what to do by people I don't respect and really cold weather, my goal is to make my clan proud" again Kakashi nodded before glancing at Sasuke, which was enough to show he was next.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I don't really like anything, and there is one thing I hate more than anything… my goal is not a dream, but an ambition… to kill a certain man" Kakashi narrowed his eye almost imperceptibly before nodding again. _So… a vessel and a revenge driven Uchiha… great… At least I was able to get the Inuzuka girl… her and the pup will help them pull together, team work is usually second nature to the Inuzuka clan._

"Okay good, you're all different and have different styles… first things first though, we'll have a survival exercise tomorrow, for today you're dismissed" the jounin began to walk towards the stairs before Aiko spoke, she stood up as she asked the question that was burning in all three genin's ears

"Survival exercise? But we already passed the academy, why do we need more practice?" the man slowed to a stop then turned on his heel, meeting her with full eye contact.

"This isn't a normal exercise… it's a test, your final test before becoming official genin… and the pass rate is 66% which means one of you will definitely fail and be sent back to the academy for another year" a few seconds passed in silence while the information sunk into the three, Naruto spoke next.

"Th-that's crazy! There's no way you'd send us back, is there?" the man looked thoughtful for a second before he spoke again,

"I suppose you're right, after all most genin who fail this test give up being ninja's at all" he smiled sweetly at the three

"I'd avoid breakfast if I were you as well, you'll only throw it up anyway" he then disappeared within a stream of leaves. The three spared a glance at each other, each thinking the same thing…

'_It won't be me!'_


End file.
